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ASUS ROG Maximus VII Hero Review

ASUS ROG Maximus VII Hero Testing:

LAN performance will be tested via a utility to gauge the performance of the onboard network solutions. The motherboard being tested will be connected via a Gigabit switch to another system with an integrated Gigabit network solution on board.

iPerf is a small lightweight utility run from the command prompt and can be used to measure both TCP and UDP performance on a network. iPerf is cross-platform software and open source. The test is configured to run for 20 seconds with a window size of 256 KB and four simultaneous streams that should be able to saturate the TCP link on a good NIC.

Rightmark Audio Analyzer 6.25 is used to test the sound solution on board each motherboard. Nothing beats a good set of ears and headphones, but this is a graphic representation of the capabilities of the installed hardware. Sampling mode is 24-bit 44kHz.

MSI Z87M Gaming

MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming

ASUS ROG M6G

ASUS ROG M7H

Frequency Response dB

+0.46, -0.10

+0.52, +0.30

+0.42, +0.03

+0.22, -0.56

Noise Level dBA

-91.0

-91.3

-102.2

-91.6

Dynamic Range dBA

91.0

91.2

102.1

91.7

Total Harmonic distortion %

0.130

0.131

0.463

0.0043

Intermodulation distortion +noise

0.266

0.259

0.463

0.114

Stereo Crosstalk,db

-89.4

-91.6

-94.9

-91.7

Intermodulation distortion + noise (Swept Freq) %

0.323

0.323

0.430

0.0091

Frequency Response (Swept Sine), db

+0.1, -0.1

+0.1, -0.1

+0.1, -0.2

+0.0, -0.2

The LAN test showed a slightly lower result than the comparison boards, with CPU usage hovering around the 4% mark during the testing. The RMAA results for ASUS' SupremeFX 2014 sound solution on the board rated good overall, with some excellent results scattered throughout the testing. Numbers do not tell the whole story though; after gaming, watching the Hobbit, and listening to music, the sound was crisp and clear with deep bass notes and clarity on the highs. Using ASUS Sonic Studio, I was able to easily tune the sound to my individual tastes using a combination of the tools.